Name: Journal of Social History Publisher: Journal of Social History Audience: Academic Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: History; Sociology and social work Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2010 Journal of Social
History ISSN:0022-4529

Issue:

Date: Winter, 2010 Source Volume: 44 Source Issue: 2

Topic:

NamedWork: Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age
(Nonfiction work)

Inheriting the City shows how immigration pervades every aspect of
American life: it is about how immigrants alter American society and how
they are in turn changed. The authors write that this volume stemmed
from their concern over the possible downward mobility of the children
of post-1965 immigrants. So began a decade-long project that analyzed
five immigrant groups with three native comparison groups in New York
City. Kasinitz, Mollenkopf, Waters, and Holdaway chose South American
Hispanics (Peruvians, Colombians, Ecuadorians) Dominicans, Chinese,
Russian Jews, and West Indians as immigrant groups to be juxtaposed
against native born Puerto Ricans, blacks and whites. They matched each
immigrant group with a native group based on racial and socioeconomic
characteristics. Their fact finding mission involved 3,415 telephone
surveys, 333 face-to-face interviews, and commissioned ethnographies of
sites where many immigrant and native youths interacted. This book and
its companion volume Becoming New Yorkers (2004) are the results of
their investigation.

The authors' findings and analysis tell a rich story about the
intersection of immigration, youth culture, and New York City.
Inheriting the City is an insightful addition to the growing body of
literature that questions how Americanization and economic integration
are related in the lives of immigrants. It presents a dizzying array of
charts that refute the notion that rapid assimilation in today's
immigrant youths causes their underperformance. On the contrary, the
most common route to economic well-being for the young adults is to join
the mainstream. These youths speak English, attend integrated schools,
and seek jobs away from ethnic enclaves. This meticulously researched
project shows that immigrant youths in fact fare better than both their
parents and their native counterparts. Russian Jews and Chinese are
doing particularly well, outperforming native white youths.
Second-generation South Americans and Dominicans are better off than
native born Puerto Ricans; and West Indians have achieved more than
native blacks. These young adults, born to at least one immigrant
parents, have what the authors call "the second generation
advantage." They benefit from being a part of two cultures by
"combining American and parental cultural beliefs and practices and
creating new norms and beliefs about how to live in the world
(87)." They have options.

This second generation advantage reflects the systematic
differences between immigrant and native groups in certain coming of age
milestones such as how and when they leave home, finish their education,
and find work. For example, adult children of immigrants are more likely
to live at home in multigenerational households than native borns. Given
New York City's high real estate cost, this can make the difference
between going to school full-time or part-time and when they complete
their schooling. Moreover, the presence of extended family members could
allow for more working adults to pool income together, and thus make
more resources available per child. Also these "extra" adults
could compensate for an absent parent and provide material and
psychological advantage over those with a smaller support group.

Nine substantive chapters cover a wide range of topics including
family background, ethnic identity, transnational ties, labor force
participation, and political engagement. The voices of the young adults
can be heard clearly. They are not mere subjects, but actors of this
story. It is their multi-faceted perspectives that best support the
argument that for these youths, their "identity is situation,
variable and often hybrid (67)." Their experiences also show major
differences among immigrant groups, which the authors attribute in part
to the immigrant parents. The authors credit the parents for having the
drive, courage, and strength to move to a foreign country. Thus, these
young adults are children of exceptional parents (352). On a more
practical level, their immigration status and social networks positively
affect their children's incorporation in to American society. In
the case of Russian Jews, they used public assistance available to
refugees and received aid from Jewish organizations to get on their
feet. Chinese benefited from the social connection of a very diverse
ethnic community. Regardless of class or origin, Chinese parents gained
information about the American system needed to help guide their
children through it. These were a few of the contributing factors of
their offspring's second generation advantage. Yet the optimism
expressed about the second generation youths is tempered by the stark
contrast of poverty, discrimination, high incarceration rate, and
limited opportunities of the native minority youths. Kasinitz and his
colleagues argue the negative outcome is telling of the ethnic and
racial lines that still matter in the U.S. society. They draw the
reader's attention to not only the structural constraints but also
the cultural expectations that limit positive outcomes for native
minority youths.

The authors are keenly aware of the current debates and their
public policy implications, but it seems that they chose to let their
data, rather than theoretical assertions, take center stage. This
choice, along with their clear writing, makes this book very accessible.
Yet it is a lengthy volume overflowing with statistics that may
discourage a reader from casually picking this book up. Another not so
small shortcoming is that this book is a case study based on one of the
most diverse, dynamic cities in the United States. The reasons that make
New York City an interesting subject make it not representative of most
parts of the United States. As enumerated in the book, about 45% of the
city's black population, 40% of the white population, 59% of the
Hispanics, and 95% of the Asian population are immigrants or children of
immigrants. There is no single immigrant group that dominates the city,
as in other metropolitan areas like Miami and Los Angeles. Such
diversity can only be found in New York City. Its real estate is among
the nation's most expensive, and one wonders if the higher rate of
immigrant youths living at home than of native youths would be found in
other parts of the United States. Moreover, New York City has had a long
history of rewarding change and cultivating difference. But despite its
shortcomings, Inheriting the City itself is an exceptional book. It
provides a window into how today's immigrant youths in New York
City are successfully integrating into today's society.